Christmas is Not Your Birthday 1. Expect a Miracle

Christmas Is Not Your Birthday: 1. Expect a Miracle

The Church of the Wayfarer

Norm Mowery, Pastor

December 1, 2013

Isaiah 9:6-7; 53:1-6; 61:1-2a

            Two years ago Geno and Elizabeth decided to get married. They went to their priest in San Francisco and found out that he could not perform the ceremony because Elizabeth had been divorced many years ago.

          The priest suggested that they come to Carmel to get married at the Church of the Wayfarer. He said that he heard that the pastor there is flexible when it comes to weddings and besides the church beautiful.

          After checking out other wedding venues in the area Geno and Elizabeth came by our church, found our doors open and asked God for a sign that this is where they were to get married.

          As they entered the church they saw one of Linda’s banners hanging in front. It had one word on it. The word was ‘YES!’

          That was the sign they needed. They will be married here on Saturday.

          ‘YES!’ is the sign we need today on this the first Sunday of Advent.  Today I invite you to say ‘yes’ to miracles and at the close of this message I am going to invite you to say, ‘YES!’ to Jesus the life changing Christ.

          The wonder of the Name! Isaiah says:

“For to us a child is born,

To us a son is given,

And the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.”

          The Advent season is a celebration of Christ’s coming, but even more a celebration of the expectation of his return in all his glory.

          Today is the first day of the new liturgical year.

          This is my favorite time of the year—it is filled with expectation.

          This is the first in a series of messages titled, “Christmas Is Not Your Birthday.” I hope you will attend worship every Sunday during this season.

          If your last name is Christmas, you have a problem. It isn’t simply that your choices are limited when you have to choose a name for a baby girl. (It would be cruel, for example, to call her “Mary.”)

          No, the bigger problem is that Facebook won’t accept you.

          If you submit the last name “Christmas” on Facebook’s brief online form you receive an automated rejection. The anonymous gatekeepers of this social networking site have decided that “Christmas” cannot possibly be a real last name.

          So, what is Christmas?

                    It is tenderness for the past,

                             courage for the present,

                                       hope for the future.

         
          The prophet Isaiah tells us that a child has been born for us, a son given to us, “and he is named

                   Wonderful Counselor,

                   Mighty God,

                   Everlasting Father,

                   Prince of Peace.”

          These are certainly unusual names. I doubt that Facebook would accept them?

          More importantly, are we accepting them?  

          Are we friending him?

          Do you want to be friends with Jesus? That’s the question Facebook would ask. If you look at his profile, you see that Jesus is a:

          Wonderful Counselor.

          At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus passes through Samaria and meets a woman at a well. He speaks with her — despite the fact that she’s a woman and a Samaritan — and tells her everything she has ever done. The woman is filled with such joy that she goes to her city and spreads the word about Jesus.

          Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor —

                   the one who knows us most fully

                   and loves us most deeply.

          He tells us the truth about ourselves and invites us to follow him.

          Jesus is: Mighty God.

          When Jesus’ friend Lazarus becomes ill and dies, Jesus travels to the man’s home in Bethany and says: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live”.

          For Jesus to make such an audacious statement, he has to be a raving lunatic … or a Mighty God.

          He can be only one or the other: insane or almighty.

          Jesus goes to the tomb and cries, “Lazarus, come out.” Then the dead man emerges. Lazarus is given new life, and so are we — if we believe in Jesus, our Mighty God.
          Christmas is all about moving from death to life.

          Jesus is: Everlasting Father.

          When Jesus is having dinner with his disciples, his follower Philip says to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus says to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”.

          Jesus is: Prince of Peace.

          When Jesus is born in Bethlehem, most people are looking for a military messiah to drive the Romans out of Jerusalem and return the land to Jewish control.

          But Jesus comes not to be a military messiah but a Prince of Peace. His endless peace is based on truth, justice and righteousness, not on the defeat of an oppressive empire.
         

          Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

          Jesus is: Immanuel.

          Immanuel literally means, “El is with us.” El is the Hebrew word for God.

          Jesus is not a Santa Claus Jesus.

          Too often we view God like Santa Claus. Think about the way we describe Santa: “He sees you when you’re sleeping…He knows if you’ve been bad or good!”

          This is not the God we see in Jesus. Jesus was not the messiah most people were expecting and hoping for. He did not come shimmying down the chimney bearing gifts for good boys and girls.

          The idol of consumerism is one of the hardest to topple. John Wesley identified the wallet as the last thing to be converted in a person’s life.

          Is the image you have of God more like Santa Claus or Jesus?

          Preparing for God’s Miracle.

          Christmas is the celebration of a miracle.

          The dictionary defines a miracle as “a visible interruption of the laws of nature.”

          In other words, a miracle is a unique event in the world that God does through people like you and me.

          That’s right—you are God’s miracle worker!

          You are God’s means to effect change in your world.

          God wants to birth a miracle through you.

          But, we must only be willing.

          Are you willing to pay the price?

          Grace may be free, but it is never cheap. Miracles come at a cost.

         

          At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Messiah who was born not only to die sacrificially for us but also to show us how to live sacrificially.

          Sacrifice is not a pleasant word for most of us.

          The message of Christmas is about a sacrificial gift. It is easy to feel excited about a newborn warmly wrapped in a manger bed of straw.

          This Jesus of the cradle poses no threat to our lifestyle. But the cradle comes with a cost. You cannot separate the cradle from the cross.

          Christmas is about a miracle. Miracles don’t just happen;

                   they are born through the pains of labor.

         

          Conceiving God’s Miracle

          Every miracle of God is conceived in the heart,

                   grows in conviction and clarity,

                   and then is delivered through a committed action.

          God plants the seeds of miracles in the hearts of available people who are willing to act on God’s vision.

          Are you ready for God to birth a Christmas miracle through you?

          Miracles are conceived and delivered through ordinary people who are willing to dream God’s dreams and then act on God’s vision.

          Isaiah offers some miracle ideas:

                   healing what is broken,

                   freeing those in bondage,

                   comforting those who mourn?

          Clearly, this is what Jesus came to do, and this is what our faith in him calls us to do.

          Words Isaiah uses are:

                   "sent," "bringing," "binding," "proclaiming," "comforting,"  "providing," "giving,"  "planting,"  "raising," "building".

          Isaiah’s call speaks to us today. We are

                    to bring good news to the oppressed,

                   to bind up the brokenhearted,

                   to proclaim liberty to the captives and release

                   to the prisoners.

          Several years ago, Kent M. Keith, then a 19-year-old college student, looked at the injustice in human dealings and responded with a list of what he called “The Paradoxical Commandments.”

          There’s a good chance you’ve heard these before because once published, they were passed from one person to another and have since circled the globe.

          People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered.
                    Love them anyway.
          If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
                    Do good anyway.
          If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
                    Succeed anyway.
          The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
                    Do good anyway.
          Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
                    Be honest and frank anyway.
          The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the                         smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
                    Think big anyway.
          People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
                    Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
          What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
                    Build anyway.
          People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
                    Help people anyway.
          Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
                    Give the world the best you have anyway.

          So should we.

          Yes is the sign that Geno and Elizabeth found in this church.

         

          This morning we say yes to life.       

          This morning we say yes to Jesus.

          This morning we say yes to miracles.

      

  

Pastoral Prayer

          Most gracious God, we are bound for Bethlehem and we come with gratitude that you are ever with us as we journey.

          Help us as we travel to stay on the path and keep us focused on the purpose of our mission.

          We confess that in the busyness of this season, we stray from the holy day and concentrate instead on the holiday.

          So we would ask that you guide us.
          As we put up our Christmas lights, might we be reminded of your light.            As we trim our trees, let us take time to share the treasured memories of family gatherings so that it is your love that decorates our homes.

          As we shop for gifts, keep us mindful of the birth-day we celebrate.

          When we bake cookies and make candy, let us stir in

                   forgiveness ... serenity ... peace ... joy ... and love

          so that our presents reflect the gift of your presence.
          We are bound for Bethlehem, O God.

          We each must answer as to whether there is room inside the inn of our hearts for your son.

          Grant that it might be so.

          We pray in the name of the one whom the wisest seek,

                   the baby Jesus the Christ,

                   the Messiah who taught us to say when we pray....